Mitsubishi Really Needs a Hero Like This CGI Lancer Evo XI Concept to Rise From the Grave

That's like saying: "We didn't do a great job, and we really hope that we don't get fired." Seriously, this is the same Japanese automaker that gave us the mighty Pajero that dominated the Dakar rally for years and the Lancer Evolution series that was also responsible for countless rally victories. Shame on them that in a year of massive boom across the US automotive market, they only posted a little over 87k deliveries!

That's not even an excellent performance compared to 2022 because sales for MMNA (Mitsubishi Motors North America) only surged 1.8% year-over-year. As always, the only nameplate that customers actually care about from Mitsubishi is the Outlander series – both the gasoline and PHEV models posted impressive results. In fact, these were the only models that didn't have a negative performance – Mirage, Eclipse Cross, and Outlander Sport were all down compared to their 2022 figures.

As such, it's pretty clear that Mitsubishi needs to do something, or it will head into the grave at full speed. To avoid retirement, they could try to introduce a second best-selling nameplate, for example. But they're so out of steam that we can't even think of something that could attract an audience. Alternatively, they could try and bring back the hype with a hero vehicle – something that doesn't sell much but it's cool enough to attract the crowds to the rest of the lineup.

Of course, the usual suspect is none other than Mitsubishi's Lancer in high-performance Evolution form. Alas, the lineup doesn't even include the regular Lancer sedan anymore, a model that usually fought against the Mazda3, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, etc. As such, maybe it's better first to bring back the regular Lancer to America – even if only virtually.

No worries, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has everything covered, including the unlikely return of the Lancer to America. For example, Dimas Ramadhan, the virtual automotive artist behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, has taken up the task of CGI-revealing the revival of the Mitsubishi Lancer in the first video embedded below. Of course, that may not be enough to give this dying brand a much-needed jolt, right?

Well, that's where another virtual artist intervenes, better known as hycade on social media, who can easily be seen as a massive contemporary sports car fan. His latest conceptual creation is none other than the 2024 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution XI. So, do you like its clean and sleek lines, and would you buy this sporty sedan over something like the Acura Integra Type S or the Subaru WRX?